Bill Cosby Faces Retrial in November

Bill Cosby will return to court in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to face charges of sexual assault for a second time. Judge Steven O'Neill announced that trial proceedings will start November 6.

Judge O'Neill declared a mistrial last month after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Reports say jurors came as close as 10–2 in favor of conviction, but could not achieve consensus on any of three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault, which would have carried up to 10 years in prison per count.

Cosby, 79, was accused by Andrea Constand, who claims he drugged and assaulted her at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004. Constand was an employee at Temple University, where Cosby was a trustee at the time. She testified that he gave her multiple pills that rendered her unconscious and incapable of resisting his advances.

The defense argued that while Cosby did have an affair with Constand, that the relationship was romantic and consensual. In a deposition Cosby gave to police in 2005, he admitted to giving Constand several pills, but that they were merely Benadryl to aid her sleeping. Cosby also admitted that he had previously purchased quaaludes, a powerful sedative, in order to seduce young women and have sex with them.

Cosby and his legal team have not released a statement addressing news of the retrial yet.